HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

92

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

URGING THE UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES TO RELAX RESTRICTIONS ON THE ISSUANCE OF TEMPORARY NONIMMIGRANT B2 VISAS TO ALLOW GRADUATE NURSES TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF TAKING THE NATIONAL COUNCIL LICENSURE EXAMINATION FOR REGISTERED AND PRACTICAL NURSES, AND TO ALLOCATE MORE EMPLOYMENT VISAS TO INDIVIDUALS TO ENTER THE UNITED STATES TO WORK AS NURSES.

 

 

WHEREAS, Hawaii is continuing to experience a critical shortage of properly trained registered and practical nurses; and

WHEREAS, the National Council Licensure Examination is administered by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and is designed to test knowledge, skills, and abilities essential to the safe and effective practice of nursing at the entry level; and

WHEREAS, the examination is only provided in a computerized adaptive testing format in the United States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Candidates may also take the examination in Australia, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and the United Kingdom; and

WHEREAS, nurses who have been trained overseas who wish to work in the United States need to:

(1) Apply for licensure in the state or territory in which the nurse wishes to be licensed;

(2) Meet all of the eligibility requirements set by the relevant board of nursing to take the examination; and

(3) Register for and take, and pass the examination; and

WHEREAS, registrations remain open for one year, during which the relevant board of nursing determines the candidate's eligibility. If the relevant board of nursing fails to meet the time limit, the candidate must wait and re-register for the examination; and

WHEREAS, for nurses who have been trained overseas who wish to work in the United States and thus who need to obtain a nonimmigrant visa in order to enter the United States to take the required examination, obtaining the visa has become a great hardship particularly because of the restrictive timing of the examination's open registration; and

WHEREAS, the Immigration and Nationality Act provides a yearly minimum of one hundred forty thousand employment-based immigrant visas that are divided into five preference categories and may require a labor certification from the United States Department of Labor and the filing of a petition with the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services in the Department of Homeland Security; and

WHEREAS, of the one hundred forty thousand employment visas, 28.6 per cent are allocated for E2 (second preference) visas for professionals holding advanced degrees or a baccalaureate degree and at least five years progressive experience in the profession, or persons of exceptional ability in the arts, sciences, or business; and

WHEREAS, of the one hundred forty thousand employment visas, another 28.6 per cent are allocated for E3 (third preference) visas for skilled workers, professionals holding baccalaureate degrees, and other workers; and

WHEREAS, nurses who have been trained overseas wishing to enter the United States to work as registered or practical nurses ordinarily fall into these two employment visa categories; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is continuing to experience a critical shortage of properly trained registered and practical nurses and that shortage can be alleviated in great part if:

(1) Restrictions on the issuance of nonimmigrant visas to enter the United States to take the examination are relaxed; and

(2) More E2 and E3 employment visas are allocated for nurses who wish to enter the United States and work in Hawaii; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the Senate concurring, that the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is urged to relax restrictions on the issuance of temporary nonimmigrant B2 visas to allow graduate nurses to enter the United States for the purpose of taking the National Council Licensure Examination for registered and practical nurses, and to allocate more employment visas to individuals to enter the United States to work as nurses; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of State, the Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, and the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Nurses; Visas to Take NCLEX Exam; Visas to Work as Nurses